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12CEASARS
A review of Suetonius for comics fans (July 93)
I've been reading Suetonius, "The Twelve Caesars"
(as translated by Robert Graves), and I agree that
Gaiman's "August" is based almost entirely on this
book. Certainly the character of Augustus seems to On the other hand there
be based more on this than the Robert Graves are some touches of the
version from the novel "I, Claudius". character Lycius that
seem to owe something to
Graves' Claudius.
Here are the only two references to the
relationship between Julius Caesar and Augustus:
(p.57 of the Penguin paperback edition)
8. At the age of four Augustus lost his
father. At twelve he delivered a funeral
oration in honour of his grandmother Julia,
Julius Caesar's sister. At sixteen, having
now come of age, he was awarded military
decorations when Caesar celebrated his
African triumph, though he had been too
young for overseas service. Caesar then
went to fight Pompey's sons Spain; Augustus
followed with a very small escort, along
roads held by the enemy, after a shipwreck,
too, and in a state of semi-convalescence
from a serious illness. This action
delighted Caesar, who, moreover, soon formed
a high estimate of Augustus' character quite
apart from the energetic manner in which he
had made the journey.
(The funeral oration mentioned here also appears in
Gaiman's August.)
(p.92 Penguin paper)
68. As a young man Augustus was accused of
various improprieties. For instance, Sextus
Pompey jeered at his effeminacy; Mark Antony
alleged that Julius Caesar made him submit
to unnatural relations as the price of
adoption; Antony's brother Lucius added
that, after sacrificing his virtue to
Caesar, Augustus had sold his favours to
Aulus Hirtius in Spain, for 3,000 gold
pieces, and that he used to soften the hair
on his legs by singeing them with red-hot
walnut shells.
To me, there seem to be two different images
of Augustus in these stories. In one, he's
the unwilling recepient of Julius'
attentions, in the other he's carefully
cultivating a boyish/effeminate appearence,
willingly prostituting himself.
Other interesting things:
On pp. 78 and 79 in section 43, Suetonius goes on making
Augustus sound like quite a patron of the theater. He
makes it sound like the prohibition of high born people
from being actors was the idea of the Senate, rather than
Augustus. Remember, in the Gaiman story, Lycius says to
Augustus that he hasn't been good to the theater.
Even Roman knights sometimes took part
in stage-plays and gladiatorial shows
until a Senatorial decree put an end to
the practice. After this, no person of
good family appeared in any show, with
the exception of a young man named
Lycius; he was a dwarf, less than two
feet tall and weighing only 17 lb but
had a tremendous voice.
So Lycius is a historical character!
I thought he was Gaiman's invention.
on page 101 in section 87, Suetonius says of Augustus:
He also had a favorite metaphor for swift and
sudden actions: 'Quicker than boiled asparagus.'
A character detail used by both Gaiman and Graves in "I, Claudius"
Another piece of Augustus dialog lifted by Gaiman:
p.90 section 65 Suetonius says that August referred
to his three children as 'my three boils' or 'my
three running sores'.
And on p. 93 section 70, Suetonius describes an
incident where Augustus appeared at a private
banquet dressed as Apollo, prompting remarks such
as:
... 'Caesar is Apollo, true -- but he's
Apollo of the Torments' -- this being
the god's aspect in one city district.
Which may be where Gaiman picked up that phrase
(Augustus mentions "Apollo of the Torments" when
Morpheus appears).
p. 96 section 76, describes Augustus' diet, which is
consistent with Gaiman's description.
And on p. 97, section 78 we get something of his
sleeping habits, inluding the detail about keeping a
story-teller on hand:
If he found it hard to fall asleep again
on such occasions, as frequently
happened, he sent for readers or
story-tellers; and on dropping off would
not wake until the sun was up. He could
not bear lying sleepless in the dark
with no one by his side; and if he had
to officiate at some official or
religious ceremony that involved early
rising -- which he also loathed -- would
spend the previous night at a friend's
house as near the appointed place as
possible. Even so, he often needed more
sleep than he got, and would doze off
during his litter journeys through the
city if anything delayed his progress
and the bearers set the litter down.
And on p 103, we have his attitude toward dreams, and the
premise of Gaiman's story:
91. Warnings conveyed in dreams,
wither his own or those dreamed by
others, were not lost on him: for
example, before the battle of Philippi,
when so ill that he decided not to leave
his tent, he changed his mind on account
of a friend's dream -- most fortunately,
too, as it proved. For the camp was
captured and a party of the enemy,
breaking into the tent, plunged their
swords through and through his bed under
the impression that he was still in it,
tearing the bed-clothes to ribbons.
Every spring he had a series of ugly
dreams, but none of the horrid visions
seen in them came true; whereas what he
occasionally dreamed at other seasons
tended to be reliable. [...]
Because of another dream he used to sit
in a public place once a year holding
out his hand for the people to give him
coppers, as though he were a beggar.
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